Maximilien Van Haaster Finishes 14th in Tokyo Men’s Foil World Cup and Wheelchair World Championships Wrap Up in Rome

Canadian Men’s Foil and Women’s Epee athletes were in action this past weekend in World Cup competition in Asia, while Canada’s top Wheelchair Fencing athletes competed at the World Championships in Rome.

A highlight of the weekend was Maximilien Van Haaster’s (Montreal, QC) performance in the Tokyo Men’s World Cup where he finished 14th overall in a field of 177 of the World’s top men’s foil fencers. Van Haaster finished with 4 wins and 2 losses after poules, advancing him to the second elimination round where he defeated Myeong Cheol from Korea in an exciting 15-14 bout. Van Haaster defeated Maddy Elice from France 15-13 in his top 64 bout and then faced Rostyslav Hertsyk from the Ukraine in the 32’s, defeating him by a score of 15-12. Van Haaster’s first loss of the second day came against Damiano Rosatelli of Italy in the top 16’s by a close score of 15-13 to end the competition in 14th place.

Another standout performance from the weekend in Tokyo was first year Junior Blake Broszus’ 48th place finish. Broszus, a Canadian living in the US, had an impressive 5 wins and 1 loss in poules and won his elimination bout against Samuel Moelis from the USA in an exciting bout of 15-14 to advance to the main draw. Broszus lost his 64 round bout to USA’s Geoffrey Tourette 15-9 to finish in 48th place overall. Broszus then flew back to the USA to compete in the North American Cup taking place on the weekend in Kansas City.

The Men’s Foil Team of Maximilien Van Haaster (Montreal, QC), Eli Schenkel (Toronto,ON) and Marc-Antoine Brodeur (Montreal, QC) lost to Denmark 45-32, putting them in 17th place overall. Denmark went on to make the semi-finals and finished in 4th place.

The Wheelchair Fencing World Championships wrapped up this weekend in Rome with team competitions. Canada fielded a team in Men’s Sabre and Men’s Epee, finishing 8th and 10th respectively. Canada’s team in both events consisted of Pierre Mainville (St. Colomban, QC), Matthieu Hebert (Beauharnois, QC) and Ryan Rousel (Saskatoon, SK). Another performer was Sylvie Morel (Pincourt, QC) who finished 16th in Women’s Sabre A.

Canada’s senior women’s epee athletes were also in World Cup action in Asia this past weekend, competing in Suzhou, China. Top performer was Rio Olympian Leonora MacKinnon (Canadian living in the UK) who made the main draw of 64’s after advancing from poules and winning both of her Direct Elimination bouts. MacKinnon faced number two ranked fencer Ewa Nelip of Poland and lost 15-11 to finish in 64th spot. Canada’s Team of Leonora MacKinnon, Malinka Hoppe Montanaro (Montreal, QC) and Kay Sze (Vancouver, BC) finished 14th overall in team, defeating India to advance to the top 16 where they lost to top ranked Russia. The team then lost a close match to Hungary 35-31, but then defeated Kazakhstan 45-43. Their last bout was against Spain, losing a close 35-31 to finish in 14th place overall.